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“Because of the climate or the soil, there was a number of reasons that a number of people made assumptions it wouldn’t work, but no one had actually tried it.”
“We’re promoting the message of black is beautiful and black excellence and being able to pass this down to generations to come.”
The new bill will allow visas for year-round workers and it provides a path to legal status for current farm workers already in the U.S.
Residents and visitors to the Finger Lakes have the opportunity this weekend to visit working farms.
ITHACA, NY (WSKG) – The 2019 New York legislative session saw the passage of a raft of legislation that has been blocked in previous years. Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton spoke with WSKG’s Celia Clarke in the Ithaca studio. She represents Tompkins County and part of Cortland County in the state Assembly. Lifton spoke about the new farm labor rights, legalization of electrically-assisted bicycles and scooters, and why she thinks marijuana legalization is inevitable. The conversation begins with Lifton talking what she considers the most important accomplishment of the session.
HARRISBURG, PA (WITF) – Alyssa Collins said she has been fielding around five phone calls every day from people with questions about hemp–and that’s not even counting the emails. Collins directs Penn State’s Southeast Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Lancaster County, where researchers are part of a multi-state, USDA-supported study into different varieties of hemp that can be used for food and fiber. Pennsylvania approved more than 300 permits to farm industrial hemp this growing season, after Congress loosened restrictions on the crop last year. Hemp was long banned because of its relationship to marijuana, but it does not have enough of the psychoactive compound THC to produce a high. So now, researchers like Collins are trying to clear up uncertainties about the crop.
The New York Farm Bureau said farmers need more workers and it wants the President to consider an expansion of a visa program.
“One of the reasons why young people aren’t going into it (farming) is, they can’t make a dollar, can’t make a living.”
Crispin Hernandez used to work on a North Country dairy farm. He and others workers tried to organize and were fired. Now he works for a workers’ rights group.
“Farm workers are excluded from labor laws that protect all other workers. So, do we want to level the playing field and ensure that those protections are in place?”
New York’s apple industry has about a 21 percent higher economic impact than traditional studies have found.
Pennsylvania’s farming industry is changing. And the challenges—from falling dairy prices to young people leaving the industry to climate change—were front and center at a recent Agriculture Department budget hearing before a state House committee.
Cornell University has received over $68 million from the United States Department of Agriculture to build a new federal research facility for grape genetics. The site will be in Geneva, New York, home to ongoing collaborations between Cornell and the USDA.
“It’s way, way more important what we do with Mexico and China and what our general trade posture is,” he said. “Trade is important to us, but trade with Canada is not the biggest worrier.”
The USDA is offering an extension to dairy farmers who want to sign up for a special insurance program.
The snow in March and April kept newborn lambs cooped up in their barn because the pasture wasn’t growing quickly. Now though, they’re bouncing and bleeting in the new spring. Be prepared for an adorable lamb video!
ROCHESTER, NY (WXXI) – Senator Chuck Schumer visited a farm in Avon to call on US trade officials to fix trade between Canada and the US regarding dairy products during upcoming NAFTA negotiations.
SYRACUSE, NY (WRVO) – Members of New York’s Congressional delegation are working to provide some financial relief to dairy farmers who continue to suffer from depressed milk prices.
In the Defense of Food airs on WSKG TV December 30th at 9pm. Join New York Times best-selling author Michael Pollan on a fascinating journey to answer the question: What should I eat to be healthy? Busting myths and misconceptions, the two-hour film In Defense of Food reveals how common sense and old-fashioned wisdom can help us rediscover the pleasures of eating and at the same time reduce our risks of falling victim to diet related diseases.”Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”
New York state has long been a center for agriculture. and, tonight, WSKG premieres a new documentary that celebrates upstate’s farming history. The movie is called Harvest. Brian Frey directed the film, and he says he misses the presence of farmers in popular culture.
In today’s throwback Thursday photograph, a Cortland County farm family uses a horse-powered treadmill to saw wood. For centuries, draft horses have been used on farms to plow fields, haul wagons, and for various other forms of hard labor. During the 19th century, farmers also used horses to provide their machinery with a dependable source of power. The horse treadmill utilized a system of gears and belts to harness the power of horses to thresh hay, saw wood, and even churn butter. The amount of force necessary to operate these treadmills was measured in “horse power,” a familiar term that is still used today.
As the Chenango River snakes it way southward through the rolling hills of Upstate New York, it bisects the town of Oxford. Before the American Revolution, the fertile land around the river was home to the Oneida Indians. The land was ceded to the fledging United States Government after the war in the 1788 Treaty of Fort Schuyler (Stanwix). White settlers quickly moved into the region and Oxford was officially incorporated on January 19th, 1793. The town’s central location made it an ideal early trading center in the region.
In today’s vintage throwback Thursday photograph, a farmer gives his daughter a ride in a wheelbarrow while a group of cows look on. The photo was taken in Chenango County probably around the late 19th or early 20th century and represents an interesting snapshot of farm life during this time period. Tune in for the premiere of “Harvest,” WSKG’s new original documentary chronicling the history of agriculture in our region, on November 19th at 8PM to learn more about family farm life.
Photograph courtesy of the Chenango County Historical Society.
Harvest, a new documentary by award-winning filmmaker Brian Frey, aired November 19, 2015 and December 8, 2015 on WSKG TV. The film traces the history and evolution of the farming and agricultural community in upstate New York over six generations through the lives and stories of farming families and the communities they help build. Utilizing rare archival photographs and film footage, first-person accounts of historical characters, personal memories and analysis, along with breathtaking cinematography, this new documentary chronicles the critical contribution the farming community has made in the development of the culture and customs across the Southern Tier of New York. Woven within the narrative of the film are biographies of dozens of normal everyday area farmers and their families whose triumphs and often devastating personal and economic struggles help punctuate the incredible story of rural life in the region. Along with their journey, we see the life-altering innovations and scientific developments in farming that helped to transform Upstate New York’s landscape.